


Broken Glass

by humanagain



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Lukethan - Freeform, M/M, i only lowkey shipped this and then i wrote this and now im just here like /what have i done/, very soon after kronos' resurrection, ~someone please stop me~
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 14:51:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6709351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/humanagain/pseuds/humanagain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ethan sucks in a breath as his sight lands on the hunched figure in the center of the room. Luke is kneeling almost motionless, unblinking, head bent down and eyes trained on his trembling hands. <br/>	“Luke?” Ethan ventures cautiously, heart racing. <br/>	Luke raises his head to meet Ethan’s gaze, his expression more turbulent than the crashing waves outside the cabin. His jaw is set and a vein throbs at his temple, but his eyes are bleak and haunted. <br/>	Seeing Luke like this makes Ethan regret resurrecting Kronos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Broken Glass

**Author's Note:**

> For [ethanakamura](ethanakamura.tumblr.com). 
> 
> The prompt for this was "Way you said 'I love you'": When the broken glass litters the floor. So yeah!!
> 
> Thanks to [wearetheseven](wearetheseven.tumblr.com) and [novva](adrien.co.vu) for trying to stop me. You were not successful. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Ethan knocks softly on the door of the ship’s cabin. When there’s no answer, he raps his knuckles on it, sharp and harsh. 

“Castellan?” he calls. Still no response. 

“Fucking hell,” Ethan swears under his breath, not sure if he’s frustrated at Luke for not answering or at himself for caring so much about that, before turning the knob and stepping into the room. His frustration fades into first shock, then horror, then concern and pure  _ panic _ as he takes in the scenery. The furniture has all been pushed to the walls, and the shelves have all been emptied, the trinkets that used to inhabit them scattered across the room. And there are shards of shattered glass  _ everywhere _ . The porthole window is an empty frame, and a cold wind blows in through the broken panes. And  _ Luke _ — 

Ethan sucks in a breath as his sight lands on the hunched figure in the center of the room. Luke is kneeling almost motionless, unblinking, head bent down and eyes trained on his trembling hands. 

“Luke?” Ethan ventures cautiously, heart racing. 

Luke raises his head to meet Ethan’s gaze, his expression more turbulent than the crashing waves outside the cabin. His jaw is set and a vein throbs at his temple, but his eyes are bleak and haunted. 

Seeing Luke like this makes Ethan regret resurrecting Kronos. 

Ethan drops to his knees in front of Luke, ignoring the sharp glass cutting into his skin underneath him. He wants to be eye-level with Luke, but looking into Luke’s eyes is the last thing he wants to do. So Ethan’s gaze lands on Luke’s lips instead.  _ Not right now _ , he thinks, training his line of sight directly above Luke’s head. 

They sit like this for a while, not saying anything, not moving. A chill from the wind passes over Ethan, but Luke either doesn’t feel it or doesn’t show it. 

Finally, he moans, “he’s going to kill me, isn’t he?” 

Ethan starts. “Who, Jackson? He doesn’t stand a chance—”

“No.  _ Kronos. _ ” A shudder comes over Luke, and it wasn’t from the cold. 

Ethan resists the urge to reach out to Luke, to put his hand on Luke’s cheek, just  _ one _ reassuring gesture, but he knows Kronos could take over at any point. 

“You’re...you’re still fighting him, aren’t you?” Ethan asks, glancing at the glass, ashamed at how hopeful he sounds. 

“Well yeah, considering I—  _ Kronos _ shattered the windows  _ into  _ the room, and I crushed glass objects with my bare hands,” Luke grumbles, stretching out his fingers as if to examine the bloody cuts covering them. 

“Is fighting even worth it?” Luke monotones. “I can’t win. And there’s nothing for me to fight for.” 

Ethan gulps. He knows Luke can’t win. He’s always known it.  _ So why does Luke saying it out loud feel like a punch to the gut? _ “What do you mean?” 

“Kronos is going to  _ burn through my body _ ,” Luke intones. He wrings his hands, and Ethan crushes the impulse to grab them. A rough, bitter laugh escapes Luke. “And there’s going to be nobody to mourn me.” 

Ethan bites his lip, trying to quell the sob that’s threatening to escape him. “Luke—” 

“ _ Don’t.”  _ The word is harsh, unforgiving. “Don’t say my name like that. It makes it sound like you care about me.” 

_ I do,  _ Ethan thinks.  _ So much,  _ he thinks, but it just comes out, “Sorry.”  

Luke hangs his head, staring at a cracked piece of glass. “Nobody loves me,” he slurs. 

And Ethan can’t take it anymore. No amount of lip-biting or self-restraint or fearing Kronos could have stopped him letting the words “ _ I  _ do, Luke.  _ I  _ love you,” from slipping out of his mouth. 

Luke doesn’t move. 

“Do you hear me?” Ethan shouts, hysterical now, grabbing Luke’s arms and shaking him, wanting an answer,  _ needing  _ one _.  _ “Do you hear me, Luke?  _ I love you. _ ” 

Luke raises his head, a cold stare and a sneer possessing his features. The expression makes his face— that face that Ethan’s spent hours memorizing every scar and blemish and imperfection of through stolen glances and staring just a little too long— completely unrecognizable. 

Ethan pulls back as if he’s been burned. An unearthly laugh bubbles up from Luke’s throat, taunting him, sending a chill down Ethan’s spine. 

Luke hadn’t heard him. 

Ethan hastily stands up as the temperature in the room drops, glass that had gotten stuck to his skin clattering to the ground. He shakes his head as he backs out of the room with Luke’s— no,  _ Kronos’ _ — laugh following him. He quickly pulls the door shut, gasping for breath. 

He rests his head on the cold wood, tears still streaming down his cheeks. “Gods  _ damn _ it, Castellan, I love you,” he whispers through the door, voice cracking. 

He releases the door knob, the latch clicking into place with a painful finality, and slowly exhales. 

He doesn’t open the door again. 

**Author's Note:**

> i accidentally started shipping lukethan hardcore like halfway through writing this fic so here 
> 
> i'm on tumblr at [zoenightstars](zoenightstars.tumblr.com)!!


End file.
